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Mary Brunton
Mary Brunton (1 November 1778 - 7 December 1818) was a Scottish poet and novelist. Life Overview Brunton, the daughter of Col. Balfour of Elwick, was married to Rev. Dr. Brunton, Professor of Oriental Languages in Edinburgh University. She was the author of 2 novels, Self-Control and Discipline, which were popular in their day.John William Cousin, "Brunton, Mary," A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, 1910, 54. Web, Dec. 21, 2017. Youth She was born Mary Balfour in the island of Barra, Orkneys, the daughter of Col. Thomas Balfour of Elwick. Her mother was the daughter of Col,. Ligonier. Her early education was irregular, but the girl learned music, French, and Italian.Grant, 148. From her 16th to her 20th year she managed her father’s household. Marriage and career About l79S she married Rev. Alexander Brunton, and settled in the parsonage of Bolton, near Haddington. The young couple studied together philosophy and history. In 1803 they went to live in Edinburgh. In 1810 Mrs. Brunton’s debut novel, Self-Control, was published; it was dedicated to Joanna Baillie, and the circumstance led to a pleasant and lifelong friendship. The book had a marked success. Another novel, Discipline, appeared in December 1814. In a letter to her brother, while acknowledging that she loved "money dearly," she declares that her great purpose had been "to procure admission for the religion of a sound mind and of the Bible where it cannot find access in any other form." The repairing of the Tron Church in 1815 gave Dr. Brunton and his wife an opportunity for a visit to London and to the south-west of England. She now projected a series of domestic tales, and made considerable progress with 1 called Emmeline.' But after giving birth to a stillborn son on 7 Dec., she was attacked by fever and died. Writing Brunton started to write her first novel, Self-Control in 1809 and it was published in 1811. One admirer was Charlotte Barrett (1786–1870), niece of the novelists Fanny Burney and Sarah Burney and mother of the writer Julia Maitland. Writing to Sarah on 17 May 1811, she commented, "I read Self-Countroul & like it extremely all except some vulgarity meant to be jocular which tired me to death, but I think the principal character charming & well supported & the book really gives good lessons.".The Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney, ed. Lorna J. Clark (Athens, GA, and London: University of Georgia Press, 1997), pp. 130 and 133n. Jane Austen had reservations, describing it in a letter as an "excellently - meant, elegantly - written work, without anything of Nature or Probability in it." In contrasting self-control with sensibility, she was moving towards a redefinition of femininity. Self-Control was widely read and went into its 3rd edition in 1812. A French translation (Laure Montreville, ou l’Empire sur soimême) appeared in Paris in 1829. The other novel Brunton completed was Discipline (1814). Like Walter Scott's Waverley, published in the same year, it had Highland scenes that were much appreciated. It went into 3 editions in 2 years. The success of Brunton's novels seems to have lain in combining a strongly moral, religious stance with events that stretched or broke the rules of society. Although the presence of "pulsating sexuality" may be an exaggeration, it is certainly true that her heroines "experience destitution struggling to survive as women on their own and enter the dark night of the soul, but rise from the depths of despair through a growing religious strength."Ruth Facer.... According to Fay Weldon, "Improving the Brunton novels may be, but what fun they are to read, rich in invention, ripe with incident, shrewd in comment, and erotic in intention and fact."Fay Weldon: Introduction. In: Mary Brunton: Discipline (London: Pandora Press, 1986), p. vii. A life of Brunton, with selections from her correspondence, her 2 novels, the unfinished story of ‘Emmeline,' and some other literary remains, were published by her husband in 1819. Self-Control and Discipline were republished in Bentley’s Standard Novels in 1832, and in cheap editions in 1837 and 1852. A French translation of Self-Control appeared in Paris in 1829. Publications Fiction *''Self-Control. Edinburgh : George Ramsay, for Manners & Miller / Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, 1811; New York: D. Longworth, 1811. *Discipline: A novel. Edinburgh: George Ramsay, 1814; Edinburgh: Manners & Miller / London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown, 1815; Philadelphia: M. Carey & M. Thomas, 1815. Collected editions *Emmeline, with some other pieces'' (with a memoir by Alexander Brunton). Edinburgh: Manners & Miller, 1819; New York: A.T. Goodrich, 1819. *''Works'' (edited with a memoir by Alexander Brunton). Edinburgh: Manners & Miller / Archibald Constable / London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown / John Murray. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Mary Brunton, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 21, 2017. See also * List of British poets References * Wikisource, Web, Dec. 21, 2017. Notes External links ;Books * Text source for Brunton writings ;About *Brunton, Mary in the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|1911 Encyclopædia Britannica]] * Significant Scots: Mrs. Mary Brunton at Electric Scotland. * Ruth Facer, author biography on Chawton Library site. Retrieved 19 November 2010. * Mary Brunton, the forgotten Scottish novelist at JaneAusten.co.uk. * Brunton, Mary Category:1778 births Category:1818 deaths Category:People from Orkney Category:People associated with Orkney Category:Scottish novelists Category:19th-century poets Category:Scottish poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Women poets